Some simple phrasal and prepositional verbs

turn off the light
switch the light off

What is a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is a verb plus an adverb which makes a new meaning. For example, the verb put in:
    She put the box on the table
means placed and we can say:
    She placed the box on the table
with the same meaning:
table
Here we have the verb and a preposition phrase (on the table). The preposition does not change the meaning of the verb so we can also say:
    She dropped the box on the table
    She threw the box on the table
    She left the box on the table
and they all mean the box is on the table now.

But if we say:
He put off the meeting
we are changing the meaning of put. The verb now has two parts, put and off, and together they mean make later. Like this:

He put off the meeting until 14:30

We call the verb put off a phrasal verb because we need both parts of the verb to make the meaning.
The phrase until 14:30 is a preposition + time and does not change the meaning of the verb at all. It just tells us what time the meeting now is.

Here's another example:

She turned the wheel to the left

Here, the verb turn means move in a circle and the phrase to the left just tells us which way she turned the wheel.
We can also say:
    She turned the bus to the right
    I turned the page in my book
and so on.
But, if we say:
    He turned off the light
then we change the meaning of the verb, like this:

→

He turned off the light

Now the verb is turn off and it means stop or close. The verb turn off is a phrasal verb and we need both parts to understand the meaning.

One last example:

He looked up to the sky

Here, we have the verb look and a phrase telling us where he looked (up to the sky).
We can also say:
    He looked over his shoulder
    He looked in the cupboard
    He looked at me
and so on and we do not change the meaning of look.
But, if we say:

She looked the word up on Google

we change the meaning of look by adding up to it and making it mean check the meaning. So we can have:
    She looked up the word in the dictionary
    She looked up the date of Easter
    I looked up his name on the web
and so on.
In all these sentences, the verb look does not mean point your eyes.

Why is this important?

This is important because, in English, the grammar of the verb changes depending on whether it is a verb + a preposition or a phrasal verb. This is how it works:

Verb plus a preposition		Phrasal verb
He looked at the house	Correct!	He turned off the light	Correct!
He looked at it	Correct!	He turned off it	Wrong!
He looked the house at	Wrong!	He turned the light off	Correct!
He looked it at	Wrong!	He turned it off	Correct!

Now see if you can write some correct sentences using this table.
Use put to mean place and put off to mean make later (postpone).
Write three correct sentences for put off and two for put.
Click here when you have done that.

You should have something like this:

Phrasal verbs like turn off, look up and put off can be used three ways:

1	Subject + Verb	Adverb	Object Noun
1	He put	off	the meeting
2	Subject + Verb	Object noun	Adverb
2	He put	the meeting	off
3	Subject + Verb	Object pronoun	Adverb
3	He put	it	off

With most phrasal verbs, we MUST put a pronoun between the verb and the adverb.
We cannot say:
I switched off it
and we must say:
I switched it off

Verbs used with prepositions can only be used in two ways:

1	Subject + Verb	Object noun	Preposition	Noun
1	He put	the box	on	the table
2	Subject + Verb	Object pronoun	Preposition	Noun
2	He put	it	on	the table

With these verbs we MUST NOT put the preposition before the object.

Here are ten more common phrasal verbs. They are not difficult to learn but remember that a pronoun MUST come between the verb and the adverb and the object noun can come in that place.

Verb	Adverb	Meaning	Example
add	up	total	I added the figures up.
bring	up	teach as a parent	She brought them up not to be rude.
call	off	cancel	She called her wedding off at the last minute
fill	in	complete	Please fill in this form.
give	up	stop	I gave up work when I was 65.
let	down	disappoint	Keep your promise! Don't let me down.
put	on	dress	She put on her best dress.
switch	on / off	start / stop	Switch the computer off and on again.
turn	on / off	open / close	Turn the tap off. Now turn it on again.
think	over	consider	Thank you for the offer. I'll think it over.

And here are ten common verbs + prepositions

Verb	Preposition	Meaning	Example
look	for	search	I am always looking for my car keys
wait	for	stay	I will wait for you until six.
hear	from	be contacted by	Have you heard from your daughter?
look	after	take care	Can you look after my cat when I am on holiday?
call	for	come to someone's house	I'll call for you at six and we can go together.
rely	on	trust	Keep your promise! I'm relying on you.
argue	about	disagree	We argued about where to go on holiday.
plan	on	intend	I plan on going to university next year.
vote	for	choose	I voted for the president.
complain	about	say you don't like	She complained about the food at school.

Now try a test.